Life After ECT

In this episode, Sarah Price Hancock presents "Electrical Injury: Rehabilitation Needs Through the Lens of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Recipients," originally recorded on November 15, 2024. The presentation examines rehabilitation considerations for individuals who have undergone ECT, drawing on both research and lived experience.About the PresentersSarah Price Hancock is an alumna of the Rehabilitation Counseling program at San Diego State University with over 14 years of experience in the field. She brings both personal and professional perspectives to the topic of ECT and electrical injury rehabilitation. She is also the founder and director of the nonprofit Ion Inc. and leads the Audit ECT campaign. Links to her work are included below.Joining Sarah is Chuck Degeneffe, Professor of Rehabilitation Counseling and Chair of the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation, and Postsecondary Education at San Diego State University.Sarah's Info https://lifeafterect.org/about-us-2/#:~:text=Sarah,PublicationsThe Audit ECT Campaign https://lifeafterect.org/ect-advocacy/audit-ect/

This video is for anyone who feels like they lost a part of themselves after ECT. I want to give voice to the unseen challenges so many face after electroconvulsive therapy. Many who’ve had ECT are living with undiagnosed, untreated disabilities—struggling to find acknowledgment and support. The aftermath of ECT can be life-changing, impacting everything—identity, career, and relationships. I created this video essay to process my own experience of becoming disabled after ECT. My hope is that it will help you know that your experience is real and you are not alone. This video was originally uploaded to YouTube in 2016. Resources Grief After ECT: https://lifeafterect.com/disenfranchised-grief-the-unseen-pain-of-those-disabled-by-electroconvulsive-therapy-ect/Resources: https://lifeafterect.com/resources/ ECT Stories: https://lifeafterect.com/ect-stories/ Get Involved Learn how you can help support people harmed by ECT https://www.change.org/p/standardize-regulate-audit-shock-treatments-electroconvulsive-therapy-or-ect ------------ Life After ECT Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people harmed by ECT through advocacy, education, and research. https://lifeafterect.com/donate

Does Electroconvulsive Therapy have a place in 21st century evidence-based medicine? The following is a Presentation by Professor John Read given in March 2024. Dr. John Read is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of East London. He has published over 180 research papers and in 2022 was listed in Stanford University's register of the top 2% most cited researchers in the world. He has published six reviews of the ECT research literature (including four in peer-reviewed journals) and made multiple commentaries on the research. His most recent peer-reviewed review of the ECT literature was a 40-page paper, in 2019, written with Professor Irving Kirsch, Associate Director of Placebo Studies at Harvard Medical School. He is also the lead researcher on two independent audits of the administration and monitoring of ECT in England's Health Service and co-author of three studies of the accuracy of information provided to ECT patients and their families. https://www.uel.ac.uk/about-uel/staff/john-read⁠ His latest research: https://lifeafterect.com/participate-in-groundbreaking-research-share-your-experience-with-electroconvulsive-therapy-in-the-sectaff-survey/ This presentation was in colaboration with Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR) https://www.nlb.ie/campaigns/mental-health Full presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY5CTuMbW2w&t=2s

Welcome to the Life After ECT podcast! In this episode, we discuss: - The reality of forced ECT still happening today. - MindFreedom International's Shield Program, which helps protect against unwanted psychiatric treatment. - The importance of psychiatric advance directives to formally assert your treatment preferences. Learn how these resources can help you or a loved one, and how you can get involved in advocating for human rights in mental health care. Disclaimers Life After ECT Inc. is not directly affilated with Mindfreedom International -- we believe they are an invaluble human rights resource and want to make those at risk of forced treatment aware of the support they offer. About Life After ECT Inc. Life After ECT Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) charitble organazation dedicated to improving the lives of those harmed by electroconvulsive therapy through education, advocacy and research. Learn more about what we do and how you can support our work: Looking to a Brighter Future for Those Harmed by ECT Show Notes https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FAbX1qa0Z7UQz8vN47dx22ZPHyE1x5ZanWqsiJ73cBo/edit?usp=sharinghttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1FAbX1qa0Z7UQz8vN47dx22ZPHyE1x5ZanWqsiJ73cBo/edit?usp=sharing

There are so many things I wish I had known before having ECT. The following are the focus of this episode: Like how my doctors would treat me after being disabled by the procedure The "new and improved" safety measures aren't as effective as advertised ECT's lasting impact on how the brain processes vision That ECT doctors don't know much about electricity or what it does to the human body Some people will experience serious disabling conditions from the electricity used to cause a seizure citations and resources ⁠5 Things I wish I knew before having ECT (electroconvulsive therapy)

Electroconvulsive therapy ( ECT ) destroyed my life but I’m not allowed to say it. If I do I get treated like a crazy liar. I’m accused of stigmatizing mentally Ill people who depend on ECT for survival. Some call me anti- science, others have called me a religious extremist. I've been told to shut up and stop complaining, that I “knew what I was getting into” when I agreed to have shock therapy. I did not because I was a minor who was not given full informed consent. And let's be honest, ECT consent for minors is an illusion, anyways; brain development doesn't stop till early 20’s. As for consent, I was told ECT, once controversial, was now a legitimate, science based treatment that can be life saving. “It’s not like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest Anymore, the mantra goes.” For risks I was told ECT was safe, effective and did not cause brain damage. I was told any memory problems I had were temporary. None of this was true. I have brain & nervous system damage from ECT. I Am severely disabled. Now 13 years after my last treatment I am showing signs of neurodegeneration in my 30s ala long term sequelae of electrical injury. ECT defenders demand it be treated like a legitimate medical procedure but they don’t apply those same standards to themselves. If a patient has a known side effect the doctor acknowledges and treats it. Think of a surgeon taking post-op x-rays and writing physical therapy referrals for a knee replacement patient to get them walking after the trauma surgery. Doctors refused to believe me when I was suffering dangerous, debilitating, known side-effects from shock treatment. Eventually I got tested and have been diagnosed with chronic encephalopathy, anterior grade amnesia, working memory deficit– all evidence of brain damage. I still can't get any doctors to help treat these progressive injuries that are becoming life threatening. Seizures, heart abnormalities, acquired channelopathies, etc. Yet I’m not allowed to speak my truth. I’m not allowed to raise awareness that I was harmed and will die without correct medical care. What's worse? I’m not an outlier; I’ve met hundreds of injured ECT patients with similar outcomes and read even more accounts of serious disability from electroshock. Their doctors won't help them. They can't work, can't take care of themselves, and don't remember what they ate for breakfast. The trauma, confusion of brain damage and gaslignitng leaves many of us suicidal. We're constantly told we’re imagining things, ECT doesn't do that, it's your mental illness, get over it, you chose this, stop stigmatizing people who need ECT.

Welcome to the Life After ECT Podcast! This intro give background on why I made this podcast and what I hope to accomplish. Thanks for stopping by!